Prenda Law, a law firm that has sued thousands of people for allegedly sharing pornographic videos online, has gone through one bizarre legal turn after another. Prenda was accused of identity theft when papers were filed alleging that the firm had named a Minnesota man as the head of two shell companies—without his consent. But the firm shrugged off those allegations and actually charged that the judge overseeing its case, US District Judge Otis Wright, was biased. Wright "simply abhors plaintiffs who attempt to assert their rights with respect to online infringement of pornography copyrights," Prenda Law wrote earlier this month in a motion asking that Wright be kicked off its case.

Now it's clear that—no surprise—Wright isn't going anywhere. A different Los Angeles federal judge reviewed Prenda's motion and all but blew it off, essentially saying that Prenda is trying to get a judge kicked off its case because it doesn't like how discovery is going.

"Plaintiff’s argument boils down its disagreement with the merits of Judge Wright’s discovery orders," wrote US District Judge Michael Fitzgerald in his opinion, first published on the blog Fight Copyright Trolls. "This is not a cognizable basis for disqualification... Judge Wright’s conduct simply does not demonstrate any pervasive bias against Plaintiff or other copyright holders of pornographic or erotic material. At most, Plaintiff demonstrates that Judge Wright is concerned with the potential for discovery abuse."

Wright's concern about discovery abuse hardly seems misplaced. Prenda Law's "clients" want to force ISPs to hand over the names and contact information for thousands of customers, who Prenda Law will then be able to call and demand money from. The firm has even gone so far as to sue AT&T and Comcast when they didn't hand over the info fast enough.